Value dynamics affect choice preparation during decision-making

• Published in: Nature neuroscience Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 1575 - 1583
• Main Authors: Balewski, Zuzanna Z., Elston, Thomas W., Knudsen, Eric B., Wallis, Joni D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.09.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/378/116/2394; 631/378/2649/1409; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Choice Behavior - physiology; Coding; Cortex (cingulate); Decision making; Decision Making - physiology; Firing rate; Gyrus Cinguli - physiology; Neurobiology; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neurosciences; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Reward
• ISSN: 1097-6256; 1546-1726; 1546-1726
• DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01407-3

During decision-making, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) sequentially represent the value of each option in turn, but it is unclear how these dynamics are translated into a choice response. One brain region that may be implicated in this process is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which strongly connects with OFC and contains many neurons that encode the choice response. We investigated how OFC value signals interacted with ACC neurons encoding the choice response by performing simultaneous high-channel count recordings from the two areas in nonhuman primates. ACC neurons encoding the choice response steadily increased their firing rate throughout the decision-making process, peaking shortly before the time of the choice response. Furthermore, the value dynamics in OFC affected ACC ramping—when OFC represented the more valuable option, ACC ramping accelerated. Because OFC tended to represent the more valuable option more frequently and for a longer duration, this interaction could explain how ACC selects the more valuable response. During decision-making, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex flip-flop between representing the value of alternative options, which influences ramping signals in the downstream anterior cingulate cortex that encode the choice response.